State delegation secures $470,000 for stormwater and fireboat; Hopkins Park request vetoed

State Rep. Paula Stark and State Sen. Kristen Arrington told the Saint Cloud City Council on Tuesday that their legislative team secured $470,000 in state appropriations for two local projects — a stormwater project and a Saint Cloud fireboat rescue — but that a third funding request for Hopkins Park was vetoed by the governor. The funding was announced at the council meeting by Representative Paula Stark and Senator Kristen Arrington, who said the two of them carried projects through the appropriations process and that, collectively, their delegation brought home the money for Saint Cloud. “We did manage to bring home $470,000, 2 projects, our stormwater project and the Saint Cloud Fire Boat Rescue,” Rep. Paula Stark said. The pair spoke during a longer presentation on the recent Florida legislative session by the city’s lobbyist, Chris Carmody of GrayRobinson, who reviewed budget outcomes and broader policy developments at the state level. Carmody briefed the council on a range of items — from line-item vetoes to the extended session length — and thanked local legislators and staff for their work getting the appropriations included. He also invited council members to attend the delegation meeting on Oct. 27 and to visit Tallahassee while session is active to advocate for local priorities. Stark and Arrington told the council that although the Hopkins Park request — a project the delegation had supported — did not survive the governor’s vetoes, they intended to continue pressing for it in future sessions. “Hopkins Park, which is near and dear to our hearts…we thought that was really going to make it across, is the one that got vetoed,” Rep. Stark said. Senator Arrington said the delegation and city lobbyists would keep the project on their agenda. Carmody, who later took council questions, also outlined other statewide items that could affect local governments, including changes that appeared in the implementing bill language and a provision that the governor’s office and the Legislature negotiated closely. He described the session as unusually fractious, with multiple special sessions and extended floor negotiations, and reviewed budget and tax-package highlights that shaped which local projects advanced. Council members applauded the legislators and the lobbying team for the awards and the appropriations. Council members and staff were invited to a check presentation and asked to mark the Oct. 27 delegation meeting on their calendars. No formal council action was required or taken on the appropriations announcement; it was presented for information and to thank the delegation and the lobbyist team.